Present: S. Barber, L. Gregg-Jolly, M. Montgomery, R. Osgood, M. Schneider, J. Swartz, R. Vetter

The meeting came to order a 4:20 p.m. in the Nollen House Conference Room.

The minutes of 10/1/03 were approved.

President's Remarks

The President thanked Steve Andrews and everyone involved in organizing the Dubois symposium taking place this week and urged everyone to take part in the events.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean noted that he had talked with several faculty members about the associate dean position which he is now searching to fill and asked Council members to speak with him individually about the characteristics of a good associate dean.

He noted that the Council presentation by Jonathan Brand will need to be rescheduled to a meeting after break.

The Dean mentioned that the academic subcommittee of the Budget Steering Committee had met on Monday to review departmental position requests and noted the process is still in flux, mostly due to uncertainty in leave plans.

He distributed a position description from the Anthropology Department for a one-year replacement position. S. Barber moved, R. Vetter seconded, approval of the Anthropology Department position description for a one-year replacement position. The motion was approved.

The Dean distributed an overview report prepared by Scott Baumler on academic performance of athletes at Grinnell. There was discussion. Council thanked Baumler for his work.

Council Remarks

There were no Council remarks.

Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics

L. Gregg-Jolly moved, R. Vetter seconded, approval of the proposal by the Physics Department to conduct a search for a postdoctoral scholar to be mentored by Bill Case. The motion was approved.

Definition of Sabbatical Leave

Following previous discussion by Council, the Dean distributed a draft memorandum to department chairs regarding sabbatical leaves. There was a brief discussion.

Diversity Initiative

The President asked the Dean to review the current status of this discussion. The Dean reported that it is now unrealistic to ask departments to carry out a search this year. We are in a position to solicit proposals from departments to carry out prolonged searches, move forward with the postdoctoral strategy, or consider this year to be a planning year. S. Barber noted that faculty in the Humanities division would be greatly displeased if Council did nothing this year to move the diversity hiring process forward. R. Vetter noted that not doing anything comes with the cost of withdrawing five courses from the curriculum next year. The President suggested using the CSMP program to make additional appointments. The Dean noted that this pool, while very rich, does not typically yield many scientists. The President suggested combining approaches to include both postdoctoral searches and CSMP appointments. L. Gregg-Jolly noted that a science postdoctoral appointment would need to be two years to make it attractive to potential candidates. M. Schneider asked to what extent the postdoctoral searches could be limited to minority candidates. The President noted that there must have been a public announcement of the search prior to an opportunity presenting itself. The President asked if there was a consensus on how to proceed this year. It was decided to move forward with several different strategies, reserving additional time for discussion of how to improve our traditional diversity hiring process and our normal hiring process. The strategies to be pursued at the moment include 1) Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence, 2) postdoctoral searches in science, and 3) taking full advantage of impromptu situations (at conferences and similar situations) in which an attractive minority person is identified by a faculty member and invited to campus to give a talk and explore Grinnell as an opportunity for faculty appointment.

Other Business

L. Gregg-Jolly asked when Council could take up the issue of moving up Senior Faculty Status and early retirement. The President responded that budget modeling is taking place, with the core idea of being able to offer early retirement-at a cost-with medical benefits but the modeling is still in process. S. Barber urged the President to make Senior Faculty Status eligibility earlier than it is now.

The President suggested that Council take full advantage of any recommendations resulting from the strategic planning process to have a broader discussion of the bigger issues in our academic future in tandem with or as the framework for the April consideration of departmental position requests. The Dean pointed to academic areas which are not present in our current curriculum, but for which there is demand. There was brief discussion of the strategic planning process and possible outcomes.

2003-04 Council Agenda

There was discussion of agenda items for Council discussion this year. Two items were identified for immediate discussion 1) free speech, and 2) change in salary process.

The meeting adjourned at 6:17 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese